The 6 types of modes of production
These are the different ways in which we can classify modes of production.
Throughout history there have been different economic systems that have implied a particular social order. Most of them have had in common that they were organized into classes, with some owning the means of production while others were exploited by the former.
Several types of modes of production have existed throughout history, from the earliest groups of human beings to the present day. In the following we will talk about what are the types of modes of production that exist and we will that there are and we will detail in depth this idea of Karl Marx's thought.
What are the modes of production?
Before talking about what are the types of modes of production, we must first understand what they are. Modes of production refer to the way in which economic activities are organized in a given territory, civilization, culture or period of history.. In other words, they are the ways in which an economy produces goods and services, as well as to establish the distribution of these goods and services.
The concept of modes of production has its origins in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, although Adam Smith had already suggested it some time before. Marx used this concept to refer to the specific organization of the economic production of a society, the same definition it has today. Thanks to this concept, Marxism developed a classification of the forms and types of economies that have existed throughout history on the basis of both the mode of production itself and the relationship between the different hierarchical levels of society: the classes.
The type of production mode of a society determines its living conditions, influencing both its social and political life and even its welfare.The type of a society's mode of production determines its living conditions, influencing its social and political life and even its welfare. Depending on the mode of production in force, the state can enable different institutions that perpetuate and benefit from the type of economic structure that governs society, which is why they have been of so much interest to structuralist Marxists.
According to the writings of Karl Marx in which he explains his theory of historical materialism, a mode of production results from the combination of two main factors: the productive forces and the relations of production.
Relations of production
The relations of production are the relationship between those who own the means of production and those who do not.. For example, in the framework of a capitalist society, those who own the means of production are the capitalists, such as big company presidents or factory owners, while those who do not own the means of production are the proletariat.
The relations of production determine social relations and are defined primarily in terms of social classes. These interactions are usually legally established, endorsed by the ideology of whoever holds the means of production.
Productive forces
Productive forces define the labor process in which raw materials are converted into manufactured products.. These forces are affected by the availability of raw materials and what means of production are available. If there is a shortage of raw materials or the means are inefficient, it is to be expected that the services and products produced with them will be rare and very expensive.
Why have there been different modes of production throughout history?
Marx used the idea of modes of production as a classification tool to describe and distinguish, based on historical criteria, the different economic systems that have existed throughout history. a classification tool to describe and distinguish, based on historical criteria, the different economic systems that have existed since the first hunter-gatherer humans up to his time, the 19th century. from the first hunter-gatherer humans up to his time, the 19th century. Different dynamics throughout history have meant that those who own the means and those who produce are different people.
The dynamics are usually always the same. At a given moment in history, a mode of production begins to falter because those who are exploited by those who own the means rebel, acquire new rights, or change the social structure peacefully or violently. Change within the system implies a transition to a new one in which it may well happen that those who were previously exploited are now the exploiters.
Once a new mode of production is established, it does not escape the fate of the previous one. It develops without stopping, seeking to reach its maximum productive capacity. However, as it develops, discrepancies as it develops, discrepancies appear between the social classes, determined by the relations of production.. This causes tension again and, if an agreement between owners and workers is not reached, the system trembles again and a change is produced again.
Main types of modes of production
Based on the type of relationship between owners and workers and how society is organized, we can say that there have been six main types of mode of production throughout history.
Primitive communism
Primitive communism was the mode of production in prehistoric times and, in theory, is still in force in today's hunter-gatherer societies. In its origins, This system had as its main method of production, gathering and hunting, and everything obtained was considered the common property of all tribe members.and everything obtained was considered the common property of all members of the tribe.
Although the individuals of the tribe could have some personal possessions, such as rudimentary clothing or trousseau, all the properties of the tribe were defended by the whole community and the idea of private property did not exist as we know it. There may have been some agriculture, but at first the crops were everyone's work.
However, this changed with the changed with the emergence and improvement of agriculture and animal husbandry.. Those who had better luck and obtained better crops or animals that gave more meat, milk and skins had an advantageous position with respect to the rest of the tribe, having more property. They were not going to allow others to benefit from what they had earned with their efforts, so they only shared it with others by means of exchanges or by making them work for them.
Thus, although at the beginning human beings lived in a kind of communist utopia in which everything belonged to everyone, with the appearance of private property and the improvement of production, little by little they changed to a subsistence system that, although in a very primitive way, had social classes and hierarchies of socioeconomic basis. This is what can be seen in current tribal cultures that practice agriculture and ramaderia.
2. Asian mode of production
The Asian mode of production can be considered as the first form of a society with clearly delimited classes. It was characterized by the total absence of private ownership of land, not allowing farmers or ranchers to exploit it freely, and by a centralized despotic state state, which was in charge of public works. The majority of the population was forced to do forced labor for the benefit of a small group of landowners.
The state obtained the economic surplus produced by the communities in the form of taxes and invested it to finance public infrastructure. In order to appropriate these surpluses it used coercion, forcing, by means of the armed forces, the herdsmen and farmers to give the fruits of their labor without having the right to complain.
3. Slave mode of production
The slave mode of production arose thanks to the growth of the forces of production of societies, the appearance of surplus products, the appearance and application of the concept of private property in the means of production and land, and the appropriation of the surplus product by those who owned the means of production. A classic example of this mode of production is to be found in the Greco-Latin world..
The division of labor was achieved through the use of coins, the creation of better iron tools and the perfection of the alphabet. The owners, who were the aristocratic class, had slaves to manage their businesses while enjoying a life full of luxuries. Slaves were not paid wages for their work, they were simply given just enough to live on and, if they complained, they were punished or executed.
4. Feudal mode of production
The feudal mode of production was made possible by a considerable development of productive forces after the classical European period. The Middle Ages saw the introduction of mills, heavy wheeled ploughs and other innovations that made the countryside much more productive.. Agricultural and livestock productivity soared, although it did not prevent many people from starving to death due to the impossibility of distributing food among all.
Cities grew and performed activities that could not be done in the countryside. Thus, it was a historic moment for the Western world, since for the first time the relations of production in the cities differed from those in the rural world. Medieval towns and cities specialized in different activities, some producing food and others manufacturing.
The dynamics between city-countryside social relations led to the emergence and development of better commercial relations.. Cities had to receive food and minerals, while towns required tools to better exploit the countryside and mines. This type of interaction, in which the towns offered raw materials and the cities transformed them into manufactured goods and services, is considered the antecedent that would give way many centuries later to capitalism.
Although the main social classes in the Middle Ages were three (plebs, clergy and nobility), it could be said that a fourth class developed, the merchant class, people who benefited from commercial interactions. There were also serfs who, although not slaves per se, belonged to their master's lands, were not free and had to pay for exploiting the resources of the place where they lived, without the possibility of leaving the place where they were born.
5. Capitalist mode of production
The key figure of the capitalist mode of production is, as its name suggests, the capitalist, the one who owns the means of production.. Products are manufactured in factories and workshops to be sold on the market and, in order to be competitive in a world where everyone offers their products, the capitalist manages to get his workers to produce more at the lowest cost.
In the capitalist world workers demand and receive a wage for their services, something that in earlier periods of history was not the case. In both the slave system and the feudal system, people worked because the owner of the means of production gave the order, obtaining in return just enough to be able to continue living, without having the possibility of moving up in the social hierarchy or saving.
However, the fact that in capitalist society one has a salary does not mean that one will prosper. Marx warned that, in the eyes of the capitalist, things and people exist only because they do not exist, things and people exist only because they are profitable. and paying workers a wage is a way of getting them to keep working for him without rebelling, making sure that they receive just enough money so that they do not complain but not too much so that they save and can live without working.
However, with the passage of time and based on Marxist theses, workers came to realize that their real economic benefit lies in preventing the capitalist from exploiting them, asking for better wages and working conditions. If their demands are not met, the best thing to do is to go on strike, since if the labor force stops working, it does not matter how many means the capitalist possesses since he has no one to keep production going.
The relations between the proletariat and the capitalists were hostile, being embodied in Marx's idea of class struggle, which was to lead to the overthrow of capitalism by the workers. by the workers. The idea was not to change who should be the owners and non-owners, but to create a society in which the ownership of the means of production belonged to all, a collective ownership that would give rise to a communist society.
6. Communist mode of production
The communist or socialist mode of production is a utopian mode of production based on the ideas of Karl Marx, inspired by the primitive communist mode of production. In this system rejects the organization of private ownership of the means of production, making the tools for producing goodsmaking the tools for producing goods and services public property. According to Marxism, this would allow the unlimited improvement of the productive forces and the increase of social production.
In principle, the contradictions that might arise in the communist mode of production between the productive forces and the relations of production would not be adverse. Such contradictions would be resolved through a better relation of production, which would be achieved through a better management of social processes.
Bibliographical references:
- Macedo, Juan José Avila (2003). Economics (updated edition). Guadalajara, Jal.: Umbral. p. 58. ISBN 9789709319125.
- Bajoit, Guy. (2014). Class relations and modes of production: theory and analysis. Culture and Social Representations, 9(17), 9-53. http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2007-81102014000200001&lng=es&tlng=es.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)